


The Afterlife ... From the Start

by Dema



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Red Robin (Comics)
Genre: F/M, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-13
Updated: 2019-04-20
Packaged: 2019-04-22 04:03:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 4,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14300361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dema/pseuds/Dema
Summary: Tim dies and then gets a do over.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own anyone major, they all belong to DC Comics and the people breathed life into them. The OCs are mine.  
> Feel free to comment, but not flame. I'd love to hear from you all. What you liked or didn't, what you think will happen. What you think the pairing(s) will be.

 

 

 

_**The Afterlife .... From the start** _

**Chapter 1**

 

 

 

Damian is getting what he wanted, Tim Drake’s death. He’s even part of the cause of it. Still Tim is going to save everyone. He could of saved everyone without his death, but Damian with inability to see past what is in front of him or the faulty information he has been feed almost from birth negated that possibility. The boy has a week before his part in all this will come to light. That was the time limit Tim had been able to set on the Ghost Drives. That is unless Damian springs one of his protective traps trying to see what Tim might have truly known.

 

‘The one good thing is that I know this feeling. When I was six, yeah Eddy had been making them sandwiches with that “Sauce”. If she hadn’t gotten that call and been gone that four days…’ These were the last thoughts Tim Drake had as he lay dying.

  


Tim Drake felt groggy, he could hear a ringing like an old telephone. Then a voice he hadn’t heard in years. Miss Eddy telling him to finish eating while she got the phone in the front hall. All Tim could think of is that if this was a dream then he was going to make things happen his way this time.

 

He pulled out a quart sized ziploc bag and put the whole plate food and all in it. Then got down on the floor next to his backpack, pulling his old half brick sized mobile phone out and punched in the number for the line in Alfred's Kitchen.

 

“Wayne Residence.”  Alfred's calm voice filled the line.

 

“Alfred, this is Tim Drake. Miss Eddy made me another sandwich with that weird sauce that makes me sick and burns everywhere when you smell or eat it. I only ate a bit and I feel really bad. She’s talking to someone on the house phone. It even burns my fingers where I touch the sauce. Can you come through the kitchen door and get….” Tim’s voice faded into nothing as the world around him turned black.

  


The next time Tim wakes up is because of the beeping that won't go away. He tried to smack around for the alarm but a hand grabbed his and would not let go. Then the beeping changed. And all Tim could think was what if it was Miss Eddy.

 

“Hush, Master Tim you are safe.” a calm voice reassured.

 

“Mr. Alfred. You came.”

 

“Of course, your call gave me much concern. You are in the hospital right now. It seems as I am in charge of your care in place of your Parents till we can reach them to come back as Miss Eddy is … not able to care for you right now.” It was a cautious tone in Alfred’s voice.

 

“Was it Cloves? Mother says you can always trust a man who can keep a full proper English garden. Was it cloves? I know we told Miss Eddy no cloves and we have it on paper in the house, but Miss Eddy forgets the foods and things we can’t have in the house. Like some the cleaners she likes to use. I always have to re-clean the whole house on the weekend when she goes off with her boyfriend. She hates the eco cleaners we have. Oh, Mother and father are in a remote dig site on some mountain trails. They called last week to say it may be a mouth before they can be in contact. Mrs. Mac might be back by then. I’ll be quiet now.” Tim ended in a hush watching as Alfred Pennyworth's face seemed to turn darker.

 

“Master Timothy, are you saying Miss Eddy has given you food and used products that are known to be harmful to you?”

 

“Well, yes. At first I thought maybe she has Munchausen. But really she doesn’t fit the pattern.”

 

“How about you let me worry about that. It was smart thinking to put your whole plate food and all into that baggy Tim. It helped the doctors find out what she gave you a lot faster than otherwise.” Commissioner Gordon said as he smiled down at young Tim Drake.

  


 

~Fin?


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mini Butlers abound!

 

 

 

Chapter Two

  
  


 

 

Fifteen minutes later James Gordon walked out of the private hospital room with Alfred Pennyworth and Bruce Wayne while Dick Grayson took a seat next to the bed that held Tim Drake’s tiny body.

 

“I don’t know whether it’s better or worse that he thinks that she was feeding him cloves. Just the fact that he felt that he had to look up Munchausen syndrome to rule it out bood of long term abuse.  If he hadn’t called you Alfred, I don’t know if we would have been called to the house to find his body or maybe a few years later we would be reopening a cold case.” Jim Gordon sighed before going on. “We got a hold of Mrs. MacIntosh, she’s coming back at the end of the next week.”

 

“Janet is the one who listed Alfred on the Emergency contact list and must have drilled the number for the kitchen line. The only one that is answered by Alfred then we should take him until Mrs. MacIntosh can come pick him up or Janet and Jack can be reached.” Bruce stated as he looked back into the room at the two boys.

 

They took Tim back to Wayne Manor a few days later. Mrs. MacIntosh got stuck in Alaska longer then they all thought. Bruce had nothing to worry about. Tim sent almost all his waking free time following Alfred around with a compost notebook taking detailed notes on nearly everything the butler did or said. Including how to plant and keep a proper English Rose Garden. 

 

Dick thought it was cute how Tim had raided his closet to find every piece of clothing that matched the style Alfred woar and then followed him on earends, taking notes on the best ways to purchase foodstuffs and other items that the Manor needed. 

 

Alfred set aside an hour for Dick to teach Tim tumbling under the guise of calisthenics. When he wasn’t learning how to be a mini version of Alfred Pennyworth, Tim always had a book with him. He was working his way through the Piers Anthony catalog, weel all of them that the Adult conspiracy will let him have access to.  

  
  


 

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Manor House

 

 

 

_**The Afterlife … The From the start** _

_**Chapter Three** _

  
  
  
  


The Summer was going great. Dick was fun, none of them minded when Tim had gone back to his house and came back with a camera.

 

Bruce had even offered to take Tim to the office with him when they were in town and an emergency Board meeting was called. Tim just stared at Bruce and told him that Alfred would drop him off at Drake Inc. and pick him up after the meeting or at five pm whichever came first. 

 

Tim liked when he got to be at Drake Inc. He had his own office that connected with his mother’s and he had a locking system that had yet to be cracked. One he was going to advance along with his mother’s. 

 

It was sometimes weird for Tim. He had moments where it’s like he remembered things that had as yet to happen. Almost like an overlay on his mind. He knew that there were things that needed to be changed and somethings that if he did it could be worse. Like he knew one of the Board members was skimming and doing some back dealings. That it wasn’t to bad now but that it would get bad and Jack would get caught up in it. Tim had already started gathering all the evidence he needed. All he had to do was wait for his parents to come home to talk to his mother. 

 

He already found a copy of his mother’s will. Something he remembers finding hidden after Jack died in a place that could only mean Jack had hidden it. But then finding out that your wife knew about some of the things you were doing and making sure you couldn’t get your hands on her family's company to run into the ground and you were only left a small monthly stipend.

 

He already filed a Will with an attorney that was not with Drake Inc. Alfred had found them and Dick thought it would be fun to see. He mostly thought it was going to be I leave my Teddy Bear to so and so. Instead it was three intince hours of locking up everything in trust and closing loopholes so Jack Drake couldn’t get his hands on it. Basically he was leaving everything in a Trust to be run for the Homeless kids in Gotham. He was leaving Alfred Pennyworth to oversee what little there was to oversee and to make sure that it actually went to help the kids and families of Gotham.

  
  



	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lab Tim!

 

 

 

_**The Afterlife: From the Start** _

_**Chapter Four** _

 

  
  
  
  
  


Bruce had been taking Dick into W.E. with him a lot but that was okay. It let Tim go into D. I. He had always had his own lab that was only for him to work on whatever produce he wanted. After upgrading the locks and security in and around the offices for he and his mom. He upgraded the locks and security to his lab. 

 

Really it was a bottom basement floor. That leads to a sub-basement that only he and his mom knew about. Just like the caves under the land near the cliffs. The Sublevels held old project that never quite got off the ground cause the level of tech needed or were to advanced at the time to be put out.

 

It didn’t take him long before he had an old project up and running. It was a simple fabric that had held heat and was interwoven with solar collecting gel. Bruce and Dick didn’t really say anything when he had came down the stairs that morning with a large rolling suitcase. Maybe they thought he was going to bring more cloths from Drake Manor.  Instead he was putting 200 yards of the near waterproof solar charged/body heat conservers that would help keep kids warm at night. 

 

The fabrication would take all night for the next batch so Tim felt it was alright to call Alfred early. He still needed to pick up a fully automatic serger sewing machine. One that he can just type in his pattern and feed in the fabric and it would do everything else.

 

The board was planning something with his mother away. Well really one member of the board was planning something. He’d already talked to the other board members telling them that he had a new gadget that would be geared towards schools and business. He’d already seen one of the more vicious accountants in the company. She really reminded Tim of his mother. The woman just looked at him gleefully when he started talking about the discrepancies in what this board member had sent to his mother and what he had seen in the files. Then also that it looked like he was talking to his father about the company when he shouldn’t. He had even showed her the new updated version of his Will and his mother’s. Janet Drake was no dummy, she got Jack Jackson’s John Hancock on a prenup.  

 

As a just in case Tim pulled out his cell phone and called his Godmother. Tim had bought the Manor house on the other side of Drake Manor the week after he got out of the hospital. Nakia and Amraa had shown up at the hospital. After all he was the youngest known Wakandan outside of the homelands of Wakanda.  

 

No one had told him exactly what Miss Eddy had done to his food, but it was bad enough that General Okoye was called and they even had to talk to King T’Chaka about having a guard placed for Tim and if they could maybe extradite Miss Eddy for the crimes she committed against a Wakandan. They didn’t but with a board member who was trying to Lander Mob money as well as skimming off the books of D.I. who would have no qualms with having Tim killed when this all came out. Maybe Tim can talk Okoye into letting W’Kabi bring Nala to Gotham while they are all here.

  
  
  
  


 


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> NALA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

 

_**The Afterlife From the Start** _

_**Chapter Five** _

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Tim spent the next two days operating the serger to make arm, leg and wide headbands. He had already sent the patent application to Wakanda to be filed. No one wants to look like they are stealing from a poor black country that can claim that they only have one citizen who’s not black. 

 

Most people don’t even know that Tim wasn’t born in Gotham, let alone Gotham. He was the first Directline Drake to not be born in Gotham since 1762. Janet had gotten permission to have digs near the Wakandan border. She and Jack even took on a few kids from Wakanda and Ethiopia to teach them how to safely dig and handel the artifacts that were found.

 

They were mostly Wakandan artifacts. Janet had found very old land maps that at least five maybe even ten miles into Ethiopia were really Wakandan land. Janet had bought the giant patch of deserted land that was a good three hours from the nearest Ethiopian town or settlement. A mile in was a small Wakandan village of Rhino headers. Princess Shuri had given permission for her old friend Janet Drake to come the the village for short visits and to bring any Wakandan artifacts. They were based there for nearly seven years. Jack would come and go as he pleased, Janet going home to Gotham in the winter times to see family and give the once over of the goings on at Drake Incorporated. 

 

It was in her third year that Janet gave birth to Tim in a Wakandan Rhino herder village. Janet was visiting her best friend the Princess Shiri who had been her roommate in college as they were both pre teens the school gave them a four person room that the shared with Okoye, Shuri’s bodyguard. 

 

Between Janet’s water breaking, a female Rhino giving birth while blocking the doorway, and the arrival of Queen Ramonda not only was Tim born in Wakanda, he became the first and only white child to be born in Wakanda. As such Tim was raised with the other village children. He was nearly two when Jack came back to the Dig site. Tim remembered being very happy in Wakanda with the his Rhino Nala, the baby Rhino that was being born assuring that Tim would also be born on the same land as her. Every winter when they came back from visiting family Nala was always waiting on the Wakanad border to greet him.

  
  


Tim was brought out his rhythm on the hand loom that he was making scarves with a a thread version of his material by a familiar sound. One that Dick seamed to know too.

 

“That sounded like a Rhino but the circus isn’t anywhere near here.” Dick said as he and Tim got up from the table that Dick was doing homework on while Tim wove.

 

“Master Tim, you have a few visitors at the door.” Alfred announced in a calm, soothing voice.   

 

Tim opened the door to be greeted by the site of a full unit of the Dora Milaje who parted as he steeped out. A Bleating sound had Tim running down the steps and onto the drive only to stop and be gently bumped and huffed on by a Rhino. 

 

“NALA!!!” Tim hugged her before wrapping his arms around her front horn as she lifted him up. When the Rhino set Tim down again he gave her a quick patt before turning to hug a man with a long blue blanket with black designs interwoven. *“W’Kabi, thank-you for bringing my birthmate to see me”*

 

*’Tim do you think that the Princess would come all this way, open up a concolet and not Bring Nala to see you?*

 

Tim turned around to see Princess Shuri talking with Alfred and Bruce. Walking back up to the Princess. Tim Crossed his arms across his chest at the wrist before beating his chest in twice in quick succession. *“Princess Shuri, it is an honor to greet you and hope that you enjoy the new concolet.”* 

 

Shuri returned the salute then picks Tim up and in the air for a big swinging hug. “Mother may still come. She will say it’s to see the school but really it’s to her favorite grand godson. She wants grandchildren and my brother has yet to learn how to distract her. Really T’Challa just has to do like me and say Look Mother a Godchild for you to spoil!”

 

“Okay, I’m on to you but you can still toss me a Gramam Ramonda when she gets here. I can stave off the the whole Shuri when will you give me grandchildren talk for a what a good six or seven years. All bets are off for the teen years.” Tim Stated firmly.

 

“That’s fine, by then you’ll be on your sixth PHD, so I’ll have one upped my brother anyway. I talked to your mother before this trip. She hoped to only be gone for a few months and just leave Jack at the site and come home. I’m taking classes at Gotham University. So I’ll stay with you at the new Royal Residence. We have a few families who will be at the Colnclet and you have young Mr. Wayne here to play with. Your mother just asks that you not test out of high School yet. I have not been able to get a hold of her yet and we all agree that Jack should be told. Part of why I am here is cover for bringing a second unit  of the Dora Milaje is because you were very right about the money going in and out of D.I. That along with Jack was the one to hire Miss Eddy Rumlow. She’s not someone you hire or childcare. If I could I would just take you home to Wakanda, but we’re very sure that Jack would tell the State Department that we kidnapped you. They would ignore the fact that you are Wakandan if they think that it would get them into Wakanda.”

 

“We can’t have that. They would send a kill team or something and I may not even make it back alive it was useful to their purpose. I’m glad that you brought Okoye and Amraa, next to Nala they’re my favorites!”

  
  


 

 


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Safe Place

_**The Afterlife From the Start** _

_**Chapter 6** _

 

 

 

 

Dick loved Nala, but then who wouldn’t let alone a twelve year old who grew up in a the Circus. Tim was still staying with Bruce. Shuri was doing a tour of the US. Most of the Royal guard had gone with the Princess. The few who stayed were working behind the scenes.

Meanwhile Tim had bought a building in the border of the the good side and not so good side of Gotham. The Sign just said it as Drake Youth Center. It was an old warehouse that Tim had converted.

It had a few Gyms and a large cafetera on the first floor along with a few arts and craft rooms and even a band hall. The second floor was set up of large conference rooms that were converted into classrooms. The other three floors were converted into dorm like rooms that kids could sleep in day or night. The basement was turned into a shelter that had been reinforced and had a separate power and air source. It was basically an all out fallout shelter that you could grow indoor hydroponic food and be safe from say a mass joker gas attack.

The sub basement that no one but Tim and who he wanted to be their had a small lab. Okay really it was a mini perch. He had a underground tunnel system that lead to and from the main family lab in Drake Inc. All the land rights along the way and the land above were owned in trust by the Drake family and could only be handled by a Drake by blood of the direct line. Only he and his mother knew about it now.

They had rooftop gardens and greenhouses. He found Pam Iverson in them one day and just told her that they were to help fee that kids in the area and to help teach them about food security and the environment. That he didn’t mind if she came and helped, but that he didn’t want anything that could hurt the kids.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A/N: I know this is short but the next part really isn't forming well with this end. So I'm just posting a really small chapter.

As always reviews and comments welcome.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Life in the shelter

 

 

The First time a lockdown at the Center was initiated was a few of the kids saw a group of men going around gassing some of the homeless men. A few of the clan leaders had been told about some of the more public tunnels and were guiding kids into them and to the Center. The younger kids passing on the alert to the adult care takers in the Center. They had nearly two hundred kids coming in from the tunnels and then another hundred from the above ground doors. *  
Tim had been in the center for only half an hour when the kids started coming in in droves. As soon as he knew that it was a possibly Scarecrow crew running around gathering up homeless to run experiments on. Tim got everyone into the showers to decon them as the kitchen were opened up to feed all the kids and get lots of coco in them. Then he called Alfred to let him know that for the next few hours if not the day he would be in lockdown because of the Crow Crew.  
Just because he knew that Bruce was Batman didn’t mean they had to know he knew yet. It’s not like he needed to tell anyone. It wasn’t his secret to tell.

Arts and crafts that were useful were well underway. A big group was learning how to knit and crochet with chopsticks. Others were learning how to paper mache with mud and newspapers to make inner shoe lines for if the bottoms wear thin or the shoe is to big. The Batspoting IM was up on one of the big screens while they had PBS and cartoons going on other screens of the younger kids and anyone who wanted to watch. *

Five hours later Batman had found the Scarecrow, he and his crew was caught and he on the way back to Arkham, his henchmen were on the way to Blackgate. Alfred called Tim to let him know that Batman had found the Villain. Mater Bruce, Dick were going to the Center to check on Tim.

It was fun to show Bruce and Dick around the Center. Alfred was talking to the cooking staff about high protein snacks that can be stored for long times. Powders that can be added to waters and drinks to boost nutricion.  
Dick was showing the kids some tumbling passes and moves to get out of holds. Even exercises that can be done in small spaces to keep the muscles from tightening up.  
Bruce was telling the older kids about the Wayne Enterprises program for leftover and unused food and products. How they even have a testing group that test the cold weather gear they make to find out how practical and durable the products are and the participants got to keep the test products afterwards as part of the fee.

Jason was there and Tim tended to stick close to him. He loved that Jason looked after the younger kids. Rounding them up near dusk to bring them to the Center for the nights. Warning them about meds would be addicting and what drugs were safe to take. When he could buying little travel packs of the safe pills and making first aid kits from the cheap dollar store makeup bags to hand out to the kids and refill when needed.

Tim got Bruce to talk to Jason about cars and how to fix them up. Bruce used rebuilding old cars a cover for getting all the car parts for the Batmobile and Cycles in the cave. It was a great cover and didn’t clash with the whole Brucie person he had going on at parties.

They stayed the night with the kids then in the morning, they all had all you can eat pancakes. Dick, went off to his Gymnastics class, while Bruce went into the office. Tim stayed and helped run the homeschool programs that they for the kids. When you don’t have address you can’t go to public school, but homeschooling didn’t have the same rules. The thing that worried Tim most is that there were not enough beds for all the street kids in Gotham. He was already working on plans to have a second center on the west side of town but he couldn’t be in both places at the same time. Right now he was just content with buying all the surrounding building and slowly converting into rooms for more bed space. It took time to make sure that they were safe and had the protections needed with most of the bad guys in Gotham. If it came to a crunch they could spill over to the basement and bottom two floors of the buildings.**

 

When Ninjas were first sighted and the kids were talking about them, Tim started to put out fillers to people who can handle Ninjas. The first time Tim got shots of them with his camera Tim put in a call and hired Wilson to come keep them busy. Not to kill them if it could be helped. It only took a month for the ninjas to go away. Really there is only so much Deadpool most normal people can take. Tim is no way responsible for the the whole Black Mask and the Fake nuns using Gotham’s orphans as drug mules thing. That was all little SallyAnne , but it did get Bruce to take in Jason Todd. Tim will say that he is the one who found out about the scheme that robbed the Todds of their wealth that lead a young Williace Todd down the road to henchman hood with Two face. If he had a two hour talk with Selina Kyle at one of Bruce’s party that lead to her staying the night. Kids fall asleep when given long warm hugs. Then later Catwoman broke in and found all these faked papers and a bunch of letters between a crooked lawyer and an Elite member of Gotham society that used that stolen wealth and later to further himself along. The better for it. The fact that the man had paid a woman to seduce a young Williace who in turn had a kid and dumpped him littaly on Wallice then took off to parts unknown.

Catherine Todd who was hooked on pills at least had the wherewithal to sober up enough to make a will leaving everything to Jason and leaving jason in the care of Bruce Wayne with the hopes that if Jason wanted he could be adopted by Wayne.

Janet had come back to Gotham without Jack who was off whatever it was he did when not with Janet and or in Gotham. The two went to a few parties where the three boys were nearly always together. Dick loved being a big brother. Jason said that he loved having Alfred for a grandfather. Everyone agreed that it was Alfred that was raising the boys. If Bruce was anything it was a loving son, and if his sudo father who never let the memory of Thomas and Martha Wayne fade wanted to be a doting grandfather then that’s what Bruce would make happen.

Janet took Tim into Drake Inc. and had a lot of closed door meetings. Projects were okayed, all the department heads had meetings new projects were started. It was like an internal audit and turnover. The nights were split between the Boys staying with Bruce and Jason and Tim staying at Tim’s house. Dick had been found a number of times sleeping Nala’s heated Barn.

 

 

 


End file.
